Electric signal and fire-alarm.



3 Sheets-Sheet No. 654,967. Patented July 3|, I900.

D. GEYWITS &. W. STILL. ELECTRIC SlGNAL AND FIRE ALARM.

(Application filed Feb. 1e, 1900.

(No Model.)

m: "cams PETERS co.. FHOYO-LITHOWWASNINGTOM n. c

No. 654,967. Patented July 3|, I900.

D. GEYWITS &. W. STILL.

ELECTRIC SIGNAL AND FIRE ALARM.

(Appliction filed Feb. 16, 1900.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2,

A v 1 1 .4 :X E

E 1 X Z E: Z I: Z

E A Q/ 5 2X E g: X7

. I 7 fiz 1 /.l i 4 2 V No. 654,967. Patented July 3|, I900.-

D. GEYWITS G. STILL.

ELECTRIC SIGNAL AND FIRE ALARM.

' (Application filed Feb. 18, 1900.) (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3,

I Di

m: nonms' PETERS 00.. Fwo'rouma wsmuman. a. c.

- other central point.

DAVID envwirs, or ROME, AND WILLIAM STILL, or UTIGA, NE\V YORK, ASSIGNORS TO MICHAEL H. POWERS, or ROME, NEW YORK.

ELECT-RIG 'S-IGNAL AND FIRE-ALARM.

srncrsrca rion fcrnaingpart cf Letters Patent No. 654,967, dated July 31, 1900.

Application filed February 16, 1900. Serial lie-5,458. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, DAVID GEYWITS, residing at Rome, and \VILLIAM STILL, residing at Utica, in the countyof Oneida and State of New York, citizens of the United States, have invented a new and Improved Electric Signal and Fire-Alarm, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description. I

The invention relates to electric devices for calling guests in hotels, apartment-buildings,

stores, and/the like at any desired time, and

also comprises means for giving an alarm in each room in case of a fire. The object of our invention is to provide a comparatively-simple and reliable. apparatus of the above-indicated class, in which provision will be made for calling several persons at the same time and for giving each of them an opportunityof answering theicall to the office, so that the clerk in attendance may ascertain at a glance whether the call has been effective and'so that there will also be evidence thatjthe guest-has answered the call. r

' The invention will be fully described hereinafter and the features of novelty pointed out in the claims. Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a face View of .that part of the apparatus which is located in the ofiice or Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of a portion of the said device, taken on the line 2 2 of Fig.- 3. Fig. 3 isasectional elevation on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2, and Fig. 4

is a diagrammatic elevation illustrating the entire apparatus.

At the office cr other central point is located the clock A, of anysuitable construc tion andhaving 'mounted toturn thereon with the minute-hand a'wheel A, provided with four pins A located at regular intervals. Thesepins are adapted to depress one end of alever B, fulcrumed at B and connected by a rod 0 and slide-bar O with a pawl D, pivoted at D. It will be obvious thatevery quarter of an hour one of the pins A will engage and operate the lever B, 03:115.. ing the rod 0 andpawl D to travel upward.

Thepawl is held in engagement with a toothed wheel E, adapted to be rotated by the upward movement of the pawl, but allowing the pawl to slide freely overrthe-teeth when it movesdownward. The rod G and paw] D return to" their lowermost position either by gravityor under the influence of a spring. (Not shown.) The wheel E is connected rigidly with a disk F, carrying a projecting pin F, which is in electrical connection with the shaft E by means of a wire G. Around the rotary disk F are arranged a series of knobs or pins H, normally stationary, but capable of being manually turned on their axes. Each of these pins carries a conducting blade or spring 1-1. These blades are normally out of the path of the pin F, but may be turned so as to come into the path of said pin, as illustrated in Fig. 4, for the last blade at the left. The number of blades is forty-eight when, as shown, the clock operates the lever B four times an hour. Of course if the lever was operated only every half-hour the number of blades H would be reduced to twentyfour.

i At the right-hand portion of Fig. 1 appears a switchboard I, which consists of a series of conducting-bars I, each provided with a number of perforations 1 There are as many of these bars 1' as there are conducting-blades Hthat is, forty-eight inthe particular example shown. "There is, besides, at the bottom a separate bar 1 Each of these bars I is connected with one of the blades H by a wire J. The bar I is connected with a batshaft E. a

clined conducting-table K, having openings for receiving connecting-plugs'L. Each of battery wire J 4 leads to a bell 0, connected by wiresJ? 7' with as manyannunciators Q as there are different bells O. In Fig. 4 only tery P by a wire J, which also leads to the these plugs is attached to the cord M, carry- Below the switchboard is located anin- I by the wire J7.

the-circuit of one annunciator has been shown complete for theisake of clearness, and it will be understoodthat the parts to the right of the dotted line a a are located at the office,

' while the parts to the left of said line aresituated in one of the rooms. From each annnnciator Q a wired leads to a push-button -R, also connected with the wire J I-n each roomislocated a fire-alarm adapted to close a circuit in any suitable way. For

instance, a conducting-bar S may be pivoted, 1

as at S, and attracted by a spring T toward .1 respectively, bywiresfj LA fusible wire V normally holds the bar S in the position shown. In case of fire the wire V will melt, causing the bar .8 to close the circuit in'the well-known manner.

To each of the bars I is secured at one end a conducting projection or contact-plate I in direct'electrical contact with its bar I. Fig. 4 we have for the sake of clearness shown the projections I separated from the bars I, and have. indicated the electrical connection It will of course be understood that this construetion-viz. a wire connection instead'of the direct contactmight be adopted in practice. .Adjacent to these projections I is mounted a conducting-slide X, having teeth orprongs X, arranged corre i I The Operationis as follows: It will be lunderstoodthat'theclock AIperi'odical'lyrotatesthe wheel E andzdiskF, so. that every qnarter' of an hojnr thepin F passes fromregi'stry with :one or the knobs H .into registryiwith spondingly to the projectionsl and adapted j to come ,incontact therewith. This slide is electrically connected with thewire J bya: I The movement of the slide is effected by means of toggle-links Y, having wire.

their stationary fulcrum at Y and connected at their joints with an operating-rod W, attached to .alever W", adapted for operation by the, pull-rod Z.

Inaddition' totheprojectionsl (of which for the sake of clearness only thirteen are shown in .Fig. gt) there is a' separate contact 1?, connected with the table K .by a wire J and adapted'to be engagedby a tooth X of the slide X, and another contact 1 connected" by the .wireJ 'with the same pole of the bat-f tery' P with which the wire J is connected; I It will.beseen that theslide Xand the con' tact l -areconnected with like poles of the.

thewadjacentlknob. As long as thesaidpin F-does not engage-the blades H no alarm willbe operated. Therefore, to bring about the -operation of the bell in any room .it i's necessary:that;theclerk should tu'rnfione or more of the blades H into the path otzzthe pin F. If 'this'is done, the pin .F will at a I predetermined time .come :into engagement with such blade',.and will therefore be inelec- .tricalconnection:through the wire J with one of athebars I. The timing of the alarm will;

' proper plug L is inserted into one of apertures l of the corresponding bar ,Ithat :is, for instance, if the guest in roorn 9 desires to be called at 5.30 oclock the plug belonging to room No. 9 willbe inserted into the bar I corre* sponding to '5. 30. In this case at 5.80 the pin I? would come in contact with the blade H a stationary contact U, the pivot S and contact U being connected with the wires J5 and J, the shaft E, and the wire G, thus ringing the bell O in the room desired. .As there'are several apertures l 'inqeach bar- Iitwill be obvious that the clerk may insert several plugs'L in the-same bar I, and thus call several guests at thesametime; After the guest has been called "he is supposed to answerby pressing the push-button R. This closes the following circuit: from push-button B through wire J to the bell Oand the annun ciator Q at the oflice and through the-wires 3", J and J to the battery Pand back through the wire J to thepush-buttonR. The return-signal will therefore cause the hell '0' to be rung and theannunciator Q of the respective room to be dropped; The clerk will therefore-receive an audible answer to the call and at thesame time thedrop of the-annunciator will show by its changed I position that the guest has answered the call, thus avoiding disputes. It will be understood thatone hell 0 will'do for'all the'annunciators. Should the clerk desire to call-a guest independently of the time-call arrangement, he will simply take the plug L corresponding to that guests roomandhold it on the bar 1 This .Willclose the following circuit: from'the plug L through the bar 1 a portion of the wire-J, batteryP, the wire 'J?',-the bell O, and wire J and' back tothe plug T'This will enable the clerk to repeat the call incas'e Should. fi're'breakoutin any of the-rooms,

. "the circuit wjill' be closed bythe meltingof thewire V, -and an-alarmwill begiven at the office as follows: "from the :bar S'the current will -flow'to thexcontact U, "the wire j the wireJi, the battery'P, the-wireJ ,the bellO,

thewires J5 the annunciator Q,'- an'd wires Jlj back to the bar S,"thus ringing the bell O and-at the same time operating'the annun- 'ciat or Qwof that room. The clerk will-thus know inwhatroomthe fire'has started, and .can then give a general alarm-by pulli-ngout therod Z, so asto shift the slide .X into contact with the projections 'l iand the teeth-X X into contact with the projectiollslf'lf I'espectively. This wil'l close two electric circuits for each roointo operate theal-arm bell, one of the circuits for onero'om beingas-foh lows: from the slide X through the tooth X to the projection 1 the wire J the table K, the plug L, the wire J the bell O, the wire J the battery P, and the wire J back to the slide X. The other circuit will be as follows: from the tooth X to the projection 1",

wire J battery P, wire J hell 0, 'wire J plug L, table K, wire J projection 1 tooth X back to tooth X that is, the full current of both batteries P P will be utilized when sending the general alarm to all the rooms, so that each bell will receive a current of sufficient strength.

.It Will be seen thatthe slide X when in contact with the projections I I I is in connection with like poles of both batteries. It will also be observed that for the operation of the general alarm, as above described, the connecting-wires J 7 appear to be superfluous. The reason for using these wires is as follows: The description given'above is based upon the assumption that all the plugs L are inserted in the table K. In practice, however, it will often occur that some of the plugs are inserted in the bars I. In each case the current from both batteries, passing respectively tothe slide X through the wires J J (for the battery P) and through the wire J projection 1 and tooth X (for the battery P,) will pass farther from the teeth X through the wires J 7 to those of the bars I, with which plugs L are in contact, and from these plugs through the corresponding wires J to the bells O, the Wire J and the other poles of both batteries.

It will thus be seen that the apparatus provides ready means for calling a person by a clock-operated arrangement at a predetermined time or at any time desired, and also makes provision for an answering signal by the guest, for the sounding of a fire-alarm at the office from each room, and for the trans-' mission of an alarm-signal from the office to all the rooms, thus fulfilling in a high degree the requirements of convenience and safety both for the guests or employees and for the landlord or employer.

' In Fig. l we have shown a hand F connected with the disk F and indicating the position of the pin F, so that it will be easy to ascertain at any time whether the device is properly adjusted.

The wire J may obviously be common to all rooms, and by reference to Fig. 4 it will be seen that only two additional wires (J and J are required for each room.

The frame containing those parts of the apparatus which are located at the office maybe provided with pigeonholes h.

Various modifications may be made Without departing from the nature of our invention. Thus it will be obvious that the connections of the parts I X X may be reversed-that is, the wire J X might lead from the battery P to the projection 1 and the wire J 8 from the battery'P to the slide X. I

The blades or springs H instead of being arranged in a single circle, as shown, might be disposed in several circles,in which'case the disk F would havea plurality of pins F.

Having thus described our invention, we

claim as new and desire to secure by Letters ng a series of conducting members each connected with one of thesaid contact members,

and anadditional conducting member not so connected, a series of movable circuit-closers,

such as plugs, adapted for engagement with said conducting members, a series of circuits in which are included'the said circuit-closers and the said contact-pieces, so that the engagement of the contact-piece with one of the contact members will close a circuit through the conducting member connected with said contact member, when said conducting member is engaged by one of the circuit-closers,

and a permanent electrical connection from the additional conducting member to each of said circuits, so that said circuits may be closed, independently of the contact-piece and contact members, by an engagement of thecircuit-closers with the additional conducting member.

2. The combination of a source of electricity,

a series of conducting members and a series of contact members, each connected with one i of the conducting members, an additional conducting member connected directly with one pole of the said source of electricity, a time-operated contact-piece connected with the same pole of the source of electricity and adapted for engagement with thefl contact members, a series of circuit-closers, such as plugs, adapted to engage the said conducting members, a series of circuits each connected with one of the said circuit-closers and with the other pole of the source of electricity and an electrically-actuated mechanism included in each of said circuits.

3. The combination of a movable contactpiece and a clockwork for operating the same, with a series of normally-stationary contact members adjustable to pass into or out of the path of said contaclrpiece, aswitchboard having a series of conducting members, each connected with one of the said contact members,

a series of movable circuit-closers, such as plugs, adapted for engagement with said conducting members, a conducting plate or base for normally receiving said plugs, a source of electricity, a connection from one pole thereof to said conducting-plate, a circuit-closer in said" connection, another connection from the same pole to the clock-operated contact-piece, and a series of electric signals each of which has one terminal connected with the other pole of the source of electricity, and the other terminal connected with one of the plugs.

t. The combination of a movablecontact- 4 1 stage-e) piece and a clockwork for operating the same,

1 with a series of i normally-stationary contact members adjustable to pass into or out of the path of said contact-piece, a switchboard hav inga series ofconducting members each connected'with one of the said contact members,

a series of movable circuit closers such as plugs, adapted for engagement with said conducting members, a conducting plate or basefor normally receiving said plugs, a sourceofelectricity consisting of two batteries connected in parallel at one pole, a series of elec-' tri'c signals, each of which has. one terminal connected with the common pole of said source of electricity, and the other terminal connection' with one of the said plugs, a circuit-closer comprisingamovable member connected with 1 the other pole'of one of the batteries, and a series of contact plates adapted to be engaged bysaid movable member, sundry of said contact-plates being connected individually Withthe conducting members of the switch board,: one of the remaining contact-plates being connected with the conducting-'plate'receivingthe plugs, and the other with the free ator and a bell, located at the centraloffice 'ing a series of conductingmembers each connected with one of the said contact-members, a series of movable circuit-closers such as plugs, adapted for engagement'with said con ducting members, a conducting plate or base for normally receiving said plugs, a source of electricity consisting of. two batteries con-- nected in'parallel at one pole, a series of, electric'signals,each of which has oneteijminal conneoted with the common pole of said source of electricity, and the other terminal connected with one of the said plugs, a .circuit= Q tact-piece.

- pole or the other battery, and a connection pole to the clock-operated con- I.

fromsaid 'free ;5. The combination of a movable contactpiece and a clockwork for operating the same,

' with a series of normally-stationary contact members adjustable to pass into or out of the path of said contact-piece, a switchboard havinga series ofconducting members each'connected with one of the said contact members,

a series of movable circuit-closers such as plugs, adapted torjengageme'ntwith said'conducting members, a conducting plate oriba'se fornormally eceiving said plugs, a source of electricity consisting of two batteries con-' nected' in parallelat onepole, a series "of elec tric signalspeach dfiwhich has one terminal 1 I connected'with the common pole of said source] of electricity; and the other term inal' con nected with'on'e of thesaid plugsya circuitnected with the other'pole of one of the bat-' teries, and aseriesof contact-plates adapted theswitchboard, one of the remaining contact-plates being connected with the conduct,

'ing-plate receiving the plugs, and; the other with the free pole-of the other battery,a connection from said free pole to the clock-ops i erated contact-'piece,a series of push-buttons 7 each located in proximity to one of the sig- 1 responding signal with the common or con-v nected poleof the two batteries, anannunci- I nals, a connection from'one terminal of each push-button to the wire connecting the corcloser comprislnga movable member, con

'nect'edv with the other pole of one of the batteries, and a series of contact-plates adapted to be engaged by said-movable member,sun- 1 dry-of saidcontact-plates beingconnected in+ dividuallywith the conducting members of the switchboard, one of theremainingcontact-plates beingcon'nected with the conducting-plate'receiving the plugs, and the other I with the free pole of the other battery, a con,- nection with said free pole to the clock-operated contactipiece, a series of push-buttons eachlocated in proximityto one of the signals, a connection from one terminal of each ipush-button to the wire connecting the corresponding signal with'the common or connected pole of the two batteries, an annunciator and a bell, located at the central office in series with each other and connected with I ,theot'herfterminal of the push-buttonand closer comprising a rin'ovable member conwith the same pole of the first-named battery which is connected with the main section of the circuit-closer, a connection from the like pole of" the other battery to the clock-open ated contact-piece, and' a series of thermostatic circuit-closers, one for each signal, and

"each'having its ends or terminals connected respectivelywith the wires leadin'gto the two terminals of the corresponding push-button.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses. 1

DAVID GEYWITS. WILLIAM STILL. Witnesses: v V

' WILLIAM R. JONES,

JOHN L. PLUNKETT,

"ICC 

